Fighting for Freedom

I’m Kishore, 20, hailing from Thrissur, a town in central Kerala. I’m now doing my BTech. in Electronics and Communication Engineering at the National Institute of Technology Calicut. You can contact me at kishore.asok at gmail.com (replace ‘at’ with @).

A person’s character is not static. Events mould and change us throughout the course of our lives, like a river smoothens and polishes the rocks over which it flows. Likewise, I expect this page to be dynamic, as well. Anyway, let me tell you a little about myself.

Interests

I’m passionate about music- in particular, western classical music. I have been learning the piano since I was 10 years old (except for the last three years). My favourite composer is Fryderyk Chopin. His music is simply magical. No one else has exploited the possibilities of the piano like he has. Sometimes you wonder how on earth a human being could compose such music.

I like reading books, mostly non-fiction. But I’m a great fan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. My favourite books include The Road Less Travelled by M.Scott Peck, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Papillon by Henri Charriere, Nurtured by Love by Shinichi Suzuki, Cosmos by Carl Sagan, Small is Beautiful by E.F.Schumacher… (I’ll add more as I go along…)

I also like reading poetry occasionally. My favourite poet is William Wordsworth. I haven’t read many poems of his, but the ones I have read, have influenced me a lot. I love reading the works of Rabindranath Tagore and Kahlil Gibran too.

I’m an ardent supporter of the Free Software Movement and any movement for sharing knowledge, in general. I initially started using the GNU/Linux operating system after being fed up with viruses, but haven’t looked back since! I’m not a geek, but I’m interested in free software development.

Philosophy and Religion

I like the scientific approach to life. Science is an honest religion, because it doesn’t claim to be anything other than a search for the truth. But I am rather skeptical of the reductionism of science, especially when it is carried to the ridiculous extents of today’s Western science.

I believe that Nature, from which we have evolved, can provide us with everything we need, material and spiritual. Anyone with common sense would understand that it is foolish to act as if our environment is a hostile place whence you have to forcibly take everything you want. Today we are witnessing the disastrous result of such an incredible view held by roughly 500 generations of human beings.

I believe that there is some mysterious connection between Man and Nature which enables us to perceive Beauty and Harmony. As for “God”, I don’t like the idea of creator and creation. I can’t differentiate between the two. For me, “God” is the element of magic and mystery in the Universe, the connectedness among all its entities.

Nor do I like the idea of a God who “is up there watching everything you do, who will reward you if you do good and punish you if you do evil“. I’m closest to being an existentialist.

Economics

I am vehemently opposed to the modern capitalism, because I believe that it’s nothing more than glorified feudalism. That doesn’t mean that I’m a communist! Many people think that you have to be either a communist, a capitalist or something in between. There couldn’t be anything farther from the truth.

I believe in the fundamental freedom that a person should enjoy. But there doesn’t exist such a thing as a “free market”. Our markets are controlled by vested interests and powerful lobbies.

I’m also opposed to globalisation, since it is nothing but a platform for mighty nations to extend their control to other countries. In fact, it is just a direct continuation of the age of colonialism, along with a veil of hypocrisy.

We have enough resources around us to lead a good life. I feel that we should relearn that skill from birds and animals- the natural ability to live on what is available in our environment.

That would help us fight global warming, too, since fuel won’t be burnt for unnecessary and avoidable transport of resources, and people. We need a movement to spread awareness of how to live in harmony with Nature. HARMONY is the key word. The present day globalisation based on consumerism is highly unsustainable, and purely illogical.